Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' Base Salary Drops, Stock Options Rise

The exec stands to make nearly $20 million in 2016, including base salary and stock option allowances.

Reed Hastings is taking a cut in his base salary in 2016.

The Netflix CEO will be paid $900,000, down from the $1 million baseline salary he was paid in 2015 and the $3 million he received in 2014. But Hastings will make up for that cut with a rise in stock option allowances of as much as $19 million, up from the $13.7 million in stock option allowances that he received in 2015.

Ted Sarandos, the streaming-media and DVD-by-mail company's chief content officer, will receive $1 million in annual salary, the same as in 2015. His package also includes $11.8 million in stock option allowances and an estimated $4 million in bonuses. That represents an increase from 2015, when he was offered stock option allowances of $9.6 million and an estimated bonus of $2 million.

The executives' pay changes coincide with a stellar performance from the stock, which advanced about 140 percent in 2015.

At the end of the third quarter, Netflix said it had 42.1 million paying subscribers to its domestic streaming service and 24 million paying international subscribers.